Former Sale Shark Charnley's decision to return to rugby league pays off after he's named in England squad

Former Sale Shark Josh Charnley has been included in a 30-man England RL performance squad named on Monday by coach Wayne Bennett.

Charnley, who won eight England RL caps from 2012-14 and played in the 2013 World Cup, is selected for the first time since his return from rugby union last March after scoring 31 tries in 34 appearances for the Wolves.

Charnley made 32 appearances for Sale, scoring four tries, but the Sharks allowed him to transfer back to league in 2018 following his failure to secure regular game time.

Charnley made the cross-code switch from League to Union and joined the Sharks in late 2016 after a hugely successful six year spell with Wigan Warriors for whom he played more than 170 times, winning two Super League titles and two Challenge Cup medals.

The powerful winger impressed everyone with his professionalism and commitment during his time with the Sharks but ultimately he was unable to crack a first team starting berth in Steve Diamond’s side.

Commenting at the time the Director said: “Josh has been a pleasure to work with and he has been a great servant for Sale.

“However, we have a highly competitive squad here at Sale and Josh’s desire was to play every week and we couldn’t guarantee him that.

“Given how important his desire to play every week was to Josh and to the club we thought that this opportunity was right for both parties.

England elite performance squad:

L Gale, A Milner, J Trueman, L Watts (all Castleford), S Tomkins (Catalans Dragons), J McGillvary (Huddersfield), J Connor, J Shaul, S Taylor (all Hull FC), R Mulhern (Hull KR), S Ward, K Watkins (both Leeds), J Lomax, T Makinson, M Percival, J Roby, L Thompson, A Walmsley (all St Helens), T Johnstone, R Lyne (both Wakefield), J Charnley, D Clark, B Currie, C Hill, J Hughes, S Ratchford (all Warrington), O Gildart, J Greenwood, S O’Loughlin, G Williams (all Wigan).

RugbyPass/PA